Post by Trog on Apr 13, 2017 5:02:53 GMT

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov: Russia has lots of questions about the "ambiguous" and "contradictory" ideas coming from the U.S. administration.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov: "In general, primitiveness and loutishness are very characteristic of the current rhetoric coming out of Washington. We'll hope that this doesn't become the substance of American policy".

I agree. So far, it has been possible to dismiss Trump's vagueness about many things as the typical kind of prevarication or even just ignorance common to all current politicians, on both the left and the right of the spectrum.

But Trump seems to be back-pedalling on almost everything he said during his campaign. This is different, it goes beyond simple lies - it shows a person who appears to have no fundamental beliefs or loyalty. It is as if you're talking to someone who tells you that he is a Christian, and the next day he says that he rejects Christianity and everything that goes with it. And in both cases being incapable of framing any coherent rationale of why.

So Trump is damaged goods. He truly is simply a narcissist with no clue.

My advice to Bannon is to resign from the Trump administration and to start working on Trump's replacement right now. Bannon must already start to think of "After Trump" - do damage control and get things rolling for the next presidential election.

Post by cjm on Jul 7, 2017 5:29:52 GMT

A Bannon speech?

Trump finally turns on Russia as he warns Putin to STOP his aggression in Syria and Ukraine as he issues full-throated attack on radical Islamic terrorism AND government bureaucracy to delight of thousands of Poles who chant his name

Post by cjm on Aug 1, 2017 6:12:05 GMT

Although some of Trump's actions and appointments are questionable, it is also true that he never had a chance to gain equilibrium. Scaramucci's appointment was clearly an attempt to inject a more aggressive approach. Under normal conditions Spicer would have been more than adequate.

The fact that I am considered an adult is both terrifying and hillarious

Post by Trog on Aug 1, 2017 6:29:05 GMT

Although some of Trump's actions and appointments are questionable, it is also true that he never had a chance to gain equilibrium. Scaramucci's appointment was clearly an attempt to inject a more aggressive approach. Under normal conditions Spicer would have been more than adequate.

Spicer is not too bright either. Neither is Conway.

In fact, I suspect that Trump could've done much better if he only had an honest, intelligent, knowledgeable and erudite spokesperson. (That's a perfect fit for Bannon, in fact. He wouldn't want the job, of course - much too junior).

The Trump administration's approach to communications is almost Malema-ish. Just throw out the first lie that comes into year head - by the time the rest of the world gets around to debunking it, everybody has already forgotten about it.

Whereas the perfect response to awkward questions is to just say: "I don't know, but I will follow up and get back to you". And then do so, in a reasoned and informed way. But apparently the phrase: "I don't know" is anathema in Trump-land. That is probably consequential to being nothing more than a marketing person.

Post by Trog on Aug 25, 2017 7:17:07 GMT

As Mr Trump’s campaign chief (his third in two months, the campaign having been roiled by scandals) Mr Bannon urged him to redouble that effort. “The American people understood his foibles and understood his character flaws and they didn’t care,” he says. “The country was thirsting for change and [Barack] Obama didn’t give them enough. I said, we are going for a nationalist message, we are going to go barbarian, and we will win.”

Post by Trog on Aug 28, 2017 7:17:41 GMT

Rare does a political strategist so explicitly reveal his game plan. Rarer do his opponents utterly fail to recalibrate their tactics in response.

For me, Bannon presided over that moment in US history where they discovered that they have irrevocable and irreparable divisions. Where they were confronted with their "internal contradictions".

Or perhaps, many have not discovered it yet, but Bannon is bringing it into razor sharp focus, and he's telling them that sooner rather than later, every single person will have to make a choice - one which it is not possible to avoid. Most of them don't want to hear this, of course.

Post by cjm on Aug 28, 2017 7:46:54 GMT

Still have to read that article properly. For the moment the term narcissism in relation to Trump has once again caught my eye. I am rather surprised that the Yanks have latched on to this as I consider narcissism a defining feature of America and Americans generally.